When I was first told about Tal & Acacia I thought, another American sister girl group doing the same old music with its aimed market of young girls before they hit teenage years and mothers trying to be cool listening to the albums their young daughters listen to. I was then told about three tracks from the album "Wake Me" that were being made available as free downloads, which thankfully changed my already preconceived idea of the band. As these tracks got played more and more on my mp3 player my expectations of "Wake Me" was growing, then out of... Read More When I was first told about Tal & Acacia I thought, another American sister girl group doing the same old music with its aimed market of young girls before they hit teenage years and mothers trying to be cool listening to the albums their young daughters listen to. I was then told about three tracks from the album "Wake Me" that were being made available as free downloads, which thankfully changed my already preconceived idea of the band. As these tracks got played more and more on my mp3 player my expectations of "Wake Me" was growing, then out of the blue, the album release date got pushed back a month, but now thankfully the album is here.
Tal & Acacia grew up in Portland, Maine, in a decidedly Christian household and attended an inner-city school their parents ran for underprivileged youth. Tal & Acacia first began songwriting and playing guitar as teenagers, while the family spent an insightful year in Russia volunteering with the Salvation Army social services. After returning from Russia, the sisters developed a stronger sense of the world during separate collegiate pursuits in opposite regions of North America.
Now, in their early twenties the sisters have created and recorded "Wake Me" with producer Monroe Jones (Third Day, Chris Rice, Ginny Owens) who helped mold this album into the beautiful album it is. Acacia said about Monroe "We wanted our songs to sound like something we've never heard before, We wanted things that were really different, that would embellish the song, that wouldn't suffocate it, but just enough to keep it creative. That's why Monroe was such a Godsend. He was willing to go there."
The album kicks off with track "Top Priority" with its repeated lyric of "seek first the kingdom" reminding us while we search for answers to all the worlds problems and issues we might have, that the first thing we should do is seek Him. This track reminds me very much of "Corinne Bailey Rae" with a soulful feel and interesting melodies. The album then moves onto "Garbage In" which is a Cheesy Pop song with cliche lyrics that I will not spend much time listening to again, but for a younger audience it has a good message that what you feed your life with affects how you are as a person.
We then move back into soulful summer sounding track "Clearview" which I have to admit is one of that greats on this album, with its clever piano in the bridge part of the song, adding to an already great singalong chorus. "Yahweh" is a soft song which explains stepping back from the busyness of the world and praising God with arms held high. The one track that I found myself closing my eyes and embracing its atmospheric vocals was "Drifting Away". What a wonderful song with its amazing drift guitar work and violins; you get the sense of going somewhere else for all four minutes.
'Wake Me' is made up of both women using their wonderful voices to create the sound of Tal & Acacia, with one playing an acoustic guitar or a piano, which could seem a bit repetitive, but thankfully the songs and their melodies are interesting enough to make me want to listen again and again.
Review by Jono Davies
LTTM Rating 4 out of 5 Stars Standout Tracks
Clearview
Drifting Away
Top Priority
